


Best Is Yet to Come

by AwakeAndAliveSpartan



Series: The Max!Verse AU [1]
Category: Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. (TV)
Genre: But are all in chronological order, Each chapter is technically a oneshot, F/M, Max!Verse
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-12-21
Updated: 2017-06-11
Packaged: 2018-09-10 18:56:36
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 5
Words: 7,019
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8929036
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/AwakeAndAliveSpartan/pseuds/AwakeAndAliveSpartan
Summary: It's post-Hive and Grant's trying to heal with the help of Skye and a German shepherd named Max.(A series of oneshots in what is called the Max!Verse.)





	1. It's All Worthless Now

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Just a note: If you read Christmas Wishes, then this is set in the same exact universe as that oneshot. Max doesn't come into the next part. This is just kind of setting up the current situation.

Skye quietly watched Grant as he sat practically motionless on the couch in the living room. She stood in the doorway between the living room and the kitchen, trying not to disturb him. He had pretty much been like this for the past few days, ever since they had found this house to live in. Skye had hoped that taking him away from Coulson and from SHIELD would help him, but nothing really seemed to be helping him. He just seemed lost inside of his own mind.

But she knew that he was suffering. Hive had practically put Grant’s mind into a blender and then had spit it back out to leave behind a broken and barely-functioning man. Hive’s damages had also caused old wounds to reopen, meaning that Grant was also suffering from the trauma left behind from his childhood and from Garrett. To put it simply, Grant was pretty much nothing but a shell of his former self.

His violent side had been stripped away, only to be seen in his violent outbursts of anger. He had unfortunately shown this towards Coulson right before Skye had taken him from the base. Coulson had been adamant about locking Grant back up and how Grant was still the villain in his book. All of the nonsense had been far too much for Grant to handle and the man had snapped. It had taken all of Skye’s strength to try and stop Grant from killing Coulson. And it was then when Skye decided that Grant needed to leave the base immediately. 

It seemed that there was hardly anything left of Grant anymore. He hardly smiled and he hardly talked. Skye even had to try her best to get him to eat and do other various self-care tasks. She assumed that his will to live had been stripped away and had been utterly destroyed. He just never verbally expressed this to her, but she feared the day when she would find him no longer breathing or when the scars would reappear on his wrists. 

Hive had erased all physical injury from Grant, meaning that any scar that marked his body had been washed away. But Hive had only increased the mental damage that Skye knew that had already been there for a long, long time. She had no idea that it was even possible that one person could go through so much suffering. But she now understood to how and why Grant ended up the way that he did before Coulson had killed him and his subsequent resurrection by Hive  

One man could only go through so much misery before they began to break, and in Grant’s case he had been broken for a long time now. He had no one that cared for him and even when he did, he was unable to realize it in time. And then those people who had cared had failed him, had turned their backs on him when he had needed their help the most. All because they couldn’t comprehend that there was way more to Grant Ward than just the traitor that had stabbed them all in the backs. They didn’t understand that he just needed help and he truly wasn’t evil like they thought he was. 

And then where there was no one to show him the way, Grant had taken the only path he knew. Darkness. All because of Garrett and SHIELD’s failure to help, Grant believed that there was nothing more to him than a villain and he embraced that. And that path of darkness led to Maveth, where he met his untimely end at Phil Coulson’s robotic hand. 

Everyone had screwed him over all throughout his life and he had never experience genuine love, only because he didn’t know what it really was. He had experienced it within the team, but did not realize it until it was too late and that love had corrupted into pure hate and malice. 

And all that was left now was nothing but an empty shell of a man.

Skye bit her lip in worry as she continued to watch Grant, whom of which hadn’t moved even a single muscle in the entire time that she had been standing there. And there truly was no telling to what was going on inside of his head. Grant had already expressed that he was seeing things, mainly a figure that looked like him. Skye had assumed that he was seeing the haunting figure of Hive. Grant had also said that the figure was mocking him and telling him that he was no good at all, that he was completely worthless. And no matter how many times Skye told him otherwise, Grant tended to believe the illusion.

Skye hated that it had taken her so long to realize that Grant wasn’t evil and that he was just broken. It had taken Hive’s sway to make her realize that Grant had been practically brainwashed by Garrett for fifteen years. She wished that she had realized it sooner and then they wouldn’t be in the mess that they were in now. 

Taking a sharp breath, Skye made her way into the living room and over to the couch. She sat down next to Grant and placed a hand on his thigh, “You okay?” she asked quietly, trying not to be loud and end up startling him. 

It was several seconds before Grant’s shoulders moved in a shrug-like motion, which Skye took as his way of responding. She watched as Grant slowly lifted his head up and looked at her with red-rimmed eyes. It looked as though he had been crying. 

“How do you think I’m doing?” he rasped, his voice barely a croak. “Everything hurts and  _ it  _ won’t shut up.”

Skye blinked, surprised that he had actually said something in response. And of course that hallucination had been talking to him; Skye wondered to just how much it heckled Grant everyday.

“Grant, whatever it’s saying,”

“I know, it’s not the truth.” Grant cut in a little too harshly. “But I can’t ignore it because it won’t ever shut up. I want it to go away.” His voice had turned into a practical whimper. “But it won’t. And the only way to get rid of it is for me to be  _ dead _ .”

“Grant, you don’t need to try to kill yourself.” Skye began, stressing the fact. “You can get better without doing that. You do start going to a therapist tomorrow, remember?”

“Yeah, but I doubt that he can help me.”  Grant almost spat.

Skye frowned and ran a hand down his leg, “You don’t know that until you see what he’ll be able to do.” she said lightly. “He’ll find a way to help, but it may just take a while.”

“I don’t think that anything can help me, Skye.”

“Trust me, there’s something out there that can help you, Grant.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I hope that you enjoy this! Please leave a comment or a kudos!


	2. A Puppy is the Best Medicine

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Grant and Skye get a furry companion.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Just a quick warning, there is a mention of animal abuse in here. Just to let you know.

Grant looked cautiously out of the car’s window as Skye started to drive further into the town they lived near, “Skye, what are you doing?” he asked wearily. “We’re done with the therapist for today, why aren’t we going back home? I want to sleep.”

“Trust me, Grant, you’ll like this. I’m sure of it.” Skye answered, pulling the car into a parking lot. “Consider it a surprise.”

“What is this place?” Grant asked, frowning at the strange building that they had pulled up to. “I don’t like this.”

“What does the sign say?” Skye questioned him, turning off the car. She turned to face him, “This isn’t a bad place at all.”

Grant studied the building a little more closely and his eyes rested on a sign right next to the door. His heart skipped a beat as he realized that it said ‘Blackwater Animal Shelter’. He quickly turned to look at Skye, “Animal shelter? We’re getting a dog?” he asked, surprising Skye with a hint of excitement in his voice.

Skye smiled and nodded, “I talked to your therapist the other day, he said that getting an animal would probably be of great help for you.” she began to explain. “You need a furry companion to help you when you have your episodes. I think a dog can do more for you than I can.”

“Can I get whatever dog I want?” Grant asked, looking back towards the building. “I don’t like little dogs, I like big ones.”

“Well, I guess. I’m not controlling your choices here.” Skye answered, opening her door. “Choose whatever you want.” She got out of the car and Grant immediately followed her out.

He remained quiet, trailing right behind her as they went inside the building. They were soon greeted by one of the shelter’s workers, causing Grant to shy behind Skye even more. A more recent side-effect of Grant’s mental issues was that he hated strangers. Skye had assumed that it had something to do with his intense paranoia. 

Skye quickly told the worker about their current predicament and why they were looking for a dog the best she could. She couldn’t exactly tell the man about SHIELD, Hydra, and Hive, so she just said that Grant was an ex-soldier who got in a serious accident that left him with several mental issues. It wasn’t exactly the truth, but it was the closest that she could get to it. 

The man told them that he was glad to help them find a dog that would suit Grant’s needs. “We do have several bigger dogs that he’ll probably like.” the worker explained as he led them into the kennel area. “Some of them are puppies, which may be better for him in his case so he can have the dog for longer. Take a look around and see if there’s any of them that you like.”

Skye smiled, “Thank you.” she stated. She turned to look at Grant, “Well, Grant, it’ll be your dog, so go look and see if there’s one that you would want to take home.”

Grant nodded shakily and Skye watched as he started to walk around to look at each of the dogs. He took good, long looks at the each of them, as if he were studying each one. Skye started up a casual chat with the shelter worker, allowing Grant to look by himself. After about fifteen minutes, Skye decided to see how Grant was doing with his decision.

She found him standing outside one kennel, looking carefully into it. “Grant? Did you find a dog that you like?” she asked, approaching him with the worker right behind her.

He pointed into the kennel, “I like him, what about him?” he asked, casting a quick glance towards the worker. 

Skye looked into the kennel as the worker came to the kennel door. There was a small, black puppy cowering in the corner of the kennel. He had pointy ears and bright brown eyes that were filled with sadness. 

“Oh, him?” The worked paused just a bit. “We just got him in a few days ago. He’s a nine week old German shepherd. Got him in from a bad abuse case. His other siblings didn’t survive it, but he was the lucky one. I don’t see how a human being could treat an innocent animal like him like that. He had some minor injuries, but they’ll heal in time.

He’s just very skittish around humans. He hasn’t let anyone touch him since he was brought in; he’ll growl at anyone that tries to come near.” he continued. “I don’t think he’s a bad dog, he just needs a loving home.”

“I like him.” Grant repeated, his gaze locked onto the small shepherd. “Can I meet him?”

“I don’t see why you can’t, I just don’t know if he’ll actually come or not.” the worker answered, opening the kennel for Grant and allowing him to step inside.

He and Skye watched as Grant slowly and carefully made his way towards the puppy, whom of which was cowering even more. Grant quietly lowered himself to the floor and sat down with his legs crossed. He gently held a hand out towards the puppy, showing that he wasn’t a threat at all.

What seemed like minutes passed before the puppy slowly made his way towards Grant’s hand. The puppy cautiously nosed Grant’s palm, sniffing the skin to take in Grant’s scent. A small smile pulled at Grant’s lips and he gently moved his hand to the puppy’s head and started to stroke his fur. 

The puppy whined briefly before slowly making his way towards Grant’s legs. Grant remained still, allowing the puppy to climb into his lap and nestle up against his stomach. He smiled even more and looked towards Skye, “He likes me!” he exclaimed. “Can we get him?”

It warmed Skye’s heart to see Grant smile like that. She hadn’t seen a smile on him like that in a long time now. “I don’t see why not.” She turned to face the worker, “I guess we have our pick.”

“Hell, I’m surprised that he was able to get close to that puppy like that.” the worker answered. “But that’s amazing. You two can come with me and we can get the paperwork filled out. The puppy can come too.”

Skye opened the kennel door to let Grant come out with the puppy in his arms. He stopped to allow Skye to pet the puppy. The puppy whined as Skye gently reached for him, but Grant quickly shushed him. 

“It’s alright.” he whispered. “She won’t hurt you, she’s a good person.” He gently stroked the top of the shepherd’s head, “You can trust her.”

Grant looked back up to Skye, “He’s just like me. He hasn’t had anyone that he could trust or anyone that loves him. He’s just scared.”

The worked briefly raised an eyebrow, but decided that it wasn’t his place to ask any questions about Grant’s statement. He nodded, “Well, it seems like he’s pretty content with you, so I think that you made a really good choice. We’ll get the paperwork and such done and you can be on your way.”

He led them back into the main area and into a small room with a computer and a desk. He sat down at the computer and Skye and Grant sat down in the chairs in front of it as he started typing away at the computer. 

“Now, the fee includes vaccination fees and him being neutered, which won’t happen for another few weeks.” the worker began to explain. “We have our own clinic here, so you can just bring him here when it’s time for that or any vaccinations or checkups that he needs.” He continued on about different things about the puppy as he printed out the paperwork that Skye would sign. 

Skye quickly looked over to Grant, whom of which had the puppy cradled close to his chest. The puppy was now fast asleep in Grant’s arms. Skye found the sight extremely cute. 

Skye made quick work of signing the paperwork and paying for the fees for the puppy. They finished things up and the worker led them back out the front. He told them to wait a minute and he disappeared for a while, only to return with basket in his arms. 

“We give these mainly to people who adopt puppies.” he began, handing the basket to Skye. “It’s got about everything you need in there. There’s a bag of food, some toys, a bed, a collar and leash, and a few other things. Of course he’ll soon grow out of these things since he is a German shepherd and will get really big pretty fast. So you’ll have to buy him things as he grows.”

“Thank you.” Skye stated with a smile. “We’ll make sure that he gets all the love he deserves. Knowing Grant, he’ll probably get spoiled.”

“Well, he deserves it after what happened. I hope you all do well.”

“Thank you.” Skye repeated. The worked helped them out and they got situated in the car. 

Grant still cradled the puppy close to his chest as Skye started up the car and pulled out of the parking lot, starting back towards their house. 

“You know that you need to give him a name, right?” she asked. “You’ve got to think up of one that suits him pretty well, but you don’t need to do it right away.” She figured that this would be good to help Grant with his decision-making skills. Grant could hardly make his own decisions without breaking down, so she figured that this wouldn’t be all that bad for him to do.

Grant didn’t respond, but he did look down to the still-sleeping puppy and started to study him. He wasn’t sure of what the puppy’s name could be, but he did want it to be a good name. And Grant wasn’t all that about overly-complicated things, so the name would be a fairly simple one.

The ride home was done in silence and went they got there, Grant immediately went inside with the puppy. Skye got the basket and brought it in, finding Grant sitting on the floor in the living room with the puppy. She gave the basket to him so he could put the collar on the puppy and so that he had a few toys as well. 

She decided to leave the two alone for a while and give Grant a chance to bond with the puppy. She did a few things around the house for about an hour before she returned to the living room to check on Grant. 

“Did you think up a name for him yet?” she asked, sitting down on the couch.

Grant nodded as he took the puppy into his arms and got up from the floor to sit on the couch, “Yep, I did.” he replied. “It’s not all that fancy, but I think that it fits really well. And I think that you’ll like it as well.”

Skye smiled at him, “That’s good. Well, what is it?” she asked, reaching out to pet the puppy.

“Max.” Grant stated simply. “It’s simple, but I like it.”

She smiled even more, “I love it!” she gently exclaimed, trying not to startle Max. “Max fits him perfectly!”

“Glad you think so.” Grant stated, looking down at Max. The puppy only sat up and licked Grant’s bearded face, causing Grant to smile once again. He had smiled the most today than he ever had in Skye’s opinion.

Skye laughed, “I think that Max will be a great dog. He’s already helping you out already.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And here's the true star of this AU! Max the wonder dog! You'll all love him! Hopefully, there will be another chapter soon, but that may be it for a while. Me and my friend haven't written enough of the AU yet to keep the parts of this coming at a fast pace. Keep the comments and kudos coming!


	3. Sleeping Soundly

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Skye has some time to think as Grant sleeps soundly with Max.

Skye lounged back in the chair that was opposite of the couch in their living room. She watched with a small smile as Grant lay fast asleep on the couch, Max curled up into a ball on his chest. It had only been two days since they had gotten the young shepherd, but he and Grant were already inseparable.

Today had been one of Grant’s therapy sessions, which usually left him drained and exhausted afterwards. He usually slept most of the afternoon on these days. And Skye still didn’t know what went on in his sessions, most things were kept between the therapist and Grant. For some reason, Grant didn’t want to disclose what was wrong with him with Skye.

She only knew his basic diagnoses, not every little thing that caused them. She knew small facts about his childhood and then some of what Garrett did, but that was about it. Grant kept everything else away from her. Skye didn’t know to why that really was. She thought it was perhaps due to the fact that he was highly uncomfortable with sharing his past. Or maybe he didn’t want to scare her with the horrible details.

And in some ways, she didn’t want to know all that had happened to him. She didn’t want to know just how his family treated him. She didn’t want to know all that Garrett had put him through. And he was still fairly silent about Hive, even to the therapist. So there was no telling all of what he was going through because of that incident. He hadn’t even expressed to whether or not he actually remembered anything from Hive or not. All that Skye knew was that Hive left him damaged, whether it was subconscious memory or Grant actually remembered all of the trauma.

Skye really hoped that he didn’t consciously remember Hive. She could remember every little detail from when she was under Hive’s sway, and she hated it. She tried to put those memories on the backburner by helping Grant out, but they still haunted her. Helping Grant was just one way to cope with it.

Right now, she knew that Coulson would wonder why the hell she was caring more for Grant than herself. Skye honestly didn’t know the real answer to that question. She figured it was because it was the right thing to do in the given situation and that Grant was far worse than she was. Hell, she wasn’t the one having violent hallucinations.

Skye sighed and looked back to Grant’s sleeping form. He had his hand threaded through Max’s thick, black fur. She wondered if he could sense that Max was right there on his chest, despite him being fast asleep. Grant hadn’t let that puppy out of his sight since they got him the other day. Skye really wasn’t sure to why. One of her guesses was that Grant was afraid that the puppy was just one of his hallucinations and would disappear at any moment. Hell, she even thought that there was a possibility that Grant believed that everything around him, even her, was a hallucination. But she wouldn’t blame him if he did though. He was just going through too much and he probably didn’t think it was possible for him to have anything good.

She watched as Grant’s mouth twitched and his hand unconsciously moved slightly down Max’s back. Never in her life would she have thought that Grant was such a dog person. She remembered him saying something once about having a Labrador at one point, but it never really occurred to her. Even when they were both back on the Bus, he never had shown any affinity for dogs. Well, he never showed much affinity for anything other than board games and making her train to death. But now she figured that that was all part of that mask he put on. That hadn’t been the real him.

And even who he was now wasn’t the real him. It was probably the closest thing to who he really was, but all of his trauma and issues were holding him back from being who he really was supposed to be. Perhaps in a few years or so when he had recovered, then Skye would really see the real Grant Ward. But still, she liked who he was now way better than the person he had been.

She continued to watch him for a while, amazed that even in his sleep he treated Max with such care. But she knew that he wouldn’t be able to cradle him for long. Max would be huge in a matter of months. If she had of known that he would cradle a dog so much, she would’ve tried to get him to get a smaller dog. But he had picked Max, so there was no arguing against that. And she knew that he probably wouldn’t have liked a small dog. He did seem like a big dog kind of person anyways.

And even now, she knew that he would never want to leave Max for even a single minute. She knew that she needed to find some way to let him take Max wherever they went. She figured that Max would have to be made into some kind of service dog in order for that to happen. Like a therapy dog of sorts. Perhaps his therapist knew of a way to do so since it was common for people with PTSD and such to have a companion like that. It couldn’t be any different for Grant. Skye figured that she would ask the therapist the next time Grant went in for an appointment, which was in a few days.

After a while, Grant began to stir and Skye looked to see his eyes fluttering open and him slowly shifting himself upwards and trying to move Max at the same time. Once he was up and had Max situated sitting up in his lap, he looked at Skye and smiled slightly.

“How long have you been sitting there?” he asked.

“About fifteen minutes.” she answered, getting up and moving to the couch since there was now room for her to sit there.

“About fifteen minutes.” she answered, getting up and moving to the couch since there was now room for her to sit there. “You’ve been asleep for about two and a half hours. I went ahead and did a few things around the house, you usually end up sleeping longer.”

Grant shrugged, reaching up to scratch at his beard, “Guess I didn’t today.” he replied, looking down to Max.

Max had turned himself around and was looking up at Grant, his tongue hanging out the side of his mouth. The puppy let out a small bark and licked Grant on the face, causing the man to smile slightly and caused Skye to smile as well. She loved it whenever Grant smiled, mostly because it was a really rare sight.

Grant didn’t say anymore and Skye tried to break the silence, “Are you hungry?” she asked, reaching over to stroke Max. “I made some lunch earlier and put your share in the fridge, just in case you wanted some. I know that sometimes you don’t feel like eating.”

He shrugged again, “I don’t know, maybe just a little bit.” he stated meekly. “I’m still a little sick to my stomach from earlier.”

“Well, try just a little bit and don’t overdo it.” she commented.

Grant usually ended up feeling sick after his therapy appointments or after a mental episode. Skye figured it was due to mental strain and such. He was lacking in his diet recently and it wasn’t good for him to not eat, but it wasn’t good for him to end up throwing up either. At least he still kept at his vigorous exercise routine to keep up his form.

Grant just nodded.

“Take Max out to pee first, though. I think it’s been a few hours since he last went and puppies don’t have very big bladders.”

He looked down and picked Max up, placing the small shepherd on the floor. “You wanna go out, boy?” he asked, starting to lead Max away without saying another word to Skye. “You need to pee so you don’t pee in the house and get Skye all fussy.”

Skye narrowed her eyes at Grant’s back, but decided to say nothing in response. She stood up from the couch as Grant opened the front door and led Max outside, closing the door behind them.

“Well, at least today, or what’s left of it, seems like it’ll be a good day.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And there's another part. There's just enough of the AU written right now for maybe two more parts on here. Hopefully there can be a whole lot more soon so I can try to keep this coming. These parts/oneshots may be a little sporadic starting next week because my 2nd semester starts on Tuesday. But I'll try my hardest! Keep the comments and kudos coming!


	4. A Dog is the Best Medicine

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Max proves to be the best.

“Grant?”

“Yeah?”

“Is there any reason to why Max has to sit in the booth with you?”

Grant blinked and looked over to Max, the puppy looking back to him with bright, brown eyes. He reached out and ran his hand through the shepherd’s fur, “He likes to be near me.” he answered. “And I like having him to where I can pet him if I want to. I can’t do that if he’s by my feet.”

Skye sighed and looked down to her plate of food, “You know that he can’t do that forever, right?” she asked. “He’s a German shepherd, he’s not going to stay that little forever. He’s almost doubled in size since we got him, and that was like three weeks ago. And he’s not going to stop growing anytime soon.”

“Yeah, I know, but I’d like to be able to do it while I can.” Grant stated, reaching out and grabbing a french fry from his own plate. He ignored how Max tried to take the fry from him as he popped it into his mouth. “I’m just glad that this place lets him in here.”

“That’s because he’s technically a service dog, Grant.” Skye pointed at the puppy, whom of which was staring intently at Grant’s half-eaten burger. “That vest of his shows that. Places are supposed to let service dogs in, I think. You need him for help, so you have to have him with you.”

Grant smiled and scratched Max behind one of his pointy ears, “He’s a good helper.” he stated lightly. He looked back at Skye, “Do you think we have enough time to take him by the park for a while. It’d be nice for him to get some exercise. I think there’s some of his toys in the car.”

Skye shrugged, “I guess. I mean, it’s still early. We still have to go by the store, but we’ll still have time for that if we only stay at the park for an hour or so. I know that Max may be hyper, but he’ll tire out sooner or later. You too as well. I’m surprised that you’re still alert after your therapy session. You’re usually drained after them.”

“Well,” Grant began, feeding a small fry to Max and receiving a stern look from Skye. “We didn’t talk about a whole lot today. Something about giving me a slight break from things or something. I’m not sure.”

“What did you talk about?” she asked. “If you feel like telling me.”

Most of the time, Grant never wanted to talk to Skye about what went on between him and the therapist. He had a hard enough time bringing things up in his sessions, let alone try to address them to Skye. So, most of the time, Skye tended to not ask Grant about what was bothering him. And it was best not to.

He shrugged, “Like I said, it wasn’t much. He was just trying to get me to dig up a little more about what Garrett did. We don’t talk much about him, it’s usually about my family. They’re the main source of everything…” he trailed off slightly and turned his attention to Max, threading his fingers through the puppy’s fur again. “It was basically about how Garrett was just using me and he didn’t care about me. I still don’t understand with all that he did, how he didn’t care for me at all.”

“Grant, he was just using you as a weapon, he didn’t care what happened to you. As long as you got him what he wanted, he was happy.” Skye stated lightly, reaching out across the table and taking his free hand. “You were,” She stopped as she saw the sadness in his eyes and decided to drop the subject. She knew that she shouldn’t of had asked him about it anyways. “Look, let’s finish up eating and we’ll take Max to the park.”

Max’s ears perked up at the sound of his name and he looked at Skye, his tongue hanging out of the side of his mouth. Skye smiled at him and looked back to Grant, waiting for his answer. She just hoped that her question hadn’t ruined his mood and that he would still feel like taking Max to the park.

Grant looked down to his half-eaten burger and stared at it, “I’m not hungry anymore.” he mumbled.

Skye bit her lip, “Do you still feel like taking Max to the park?” she questioned. “’Cause I think that he really wants to go and if we don’t take him, he’ll end up getting upset with us. It’ll be fun.”

He just shrugged and remained silent.

“Look, I’ll go pay for the food and we’ll get going. I promise that you’ll feel better once you get some more fresh air. Running around with Max always makes you feel better, right?”

He shrugged again.

Skye sighed and slid out of the booth, heading towards the register to pay for their lunch. As she paid, she casted a quick glance back towards Grant. He still sat motionless, staring at his burger as Max carefully studied him. She knew that the puppy was starting to figure out that his owner didn’t feel good. Max was really good about picking up on things like that and then trying to help Grant out. That’s why he was starting to be an excellent therapy dog. He was blazing through his training and he already knew how to help Grant out so much.

She just hoped that Max would help Grant soon before his mood fell anymore. They still had a long and hard road in front of them to Grant’s recovery. There was just so much that Grant had to overcome and his progress was coming at a snail’s pace.

After she paid, she started to make her way back to the booth and stopped for just a second. She watched as Max stood up and made his way closer to Grant. The puppy licked Grant all over his face, eliciting a smile from the man. That made Skye smile as well. At least his mood wasn’t too soured. It still seemed as though the rest of their day would still be good.

Max was always there to help when Grant was in need.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for the wait on this! I kind of forgot about it and was waiting until there was a good bit more of the actual AU written out before I wrote some more since the time intervals between the chapters are sporadic. Keep the comments and kudos coming!


	5. Early Morning Gifts

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Grant has a surprise for Skye.

Skye opened her eyes and sat up, the sweet smell of pancakes coming through the cracked open bedroom door. She groaned and blindly reached towards the spot next to her, finding it empty. She mumbled and sat up, rubbing the dried sleep in her eyes.

“Grant?” she called, realizing that Grant's side of the bed was empty. Even Max was absent from the room as well. “Where are you?”

“I'm busy!” she heard Grant yell from the other room. “Just stay in there for like five minutes! I'll be in there soon!”

She frowned as she heard him lower his voice. Next thing she knew, there was a big, black blob bursting its way into the room and jumping onto the bed. She was met with a big, wet tongue in her face. 

“Well, hey there, boy.” Skye said, smiling as she reached out. Her fingers met fur and she stared into bright brown eyes. Max's eyes.

The German shepherd sat in front of her, his tongue hanging out the side of his mouth. She figured that Grant told the dog to come keep her company until he showed up after whatever it was that he was doing. 

“Did he send you to distract me or something?” she cooed, threading her fingers through the soft, black fur on the top of Max’s head. “What’s he up to?”

Max just looked at her. Of course he wouldn’t respond. He’s a dog.

She smiled as the seven month old dog tried to get into her lap, but without much luck. Max was just too big to fit in Skye’s lap; he barely even fit in Grant’s lap. He ended up settling with laying his head on Skye’s thigh and letting her continue to stroke the top of his head. 

The two continued just like this for about ten minutes. Until Grant decided to barge into the room, a smile on his face. “Okay, I’m ready!” he announced. “But you’ve got to stay just right there!”

Skye looked up from Max, an eyebrow raised, “Someone’s in an awfully good this morning.” she commented. “And that’s unusual for you. What’s going on?”

Grant’s smile grew even bigger and he disappeared out of the room again, only to reappear with a tray in his hands. “Well, I know that you’ve been pretty busy lately with your job and all. Especially with me. I thought that maybe…” he trailed off and shook his head, as though he was trying to figure out just what to say. His mind was still far from healthy. “I thought that maybe I'd do something for you in return.”

A smile filled Skye's face as Grant brought the tray to her and handed it to her. “So breakfast in bed?” she questioned. “Didn't think you were that domestic.”

“It's growing on me.”

Skye watched as Grant went around the bed and sat down next to her. “Was this your idea or your therapist’s?” she asked, looking down to the food, which was a stack of pancakes, some eggs, bacon, and some fruit. Even though she truly appreciated the sweet gesture, she wanted to know if Grant had come up with it all on his own. He still had trouble making his own decisions, even six months out.

Grant’s face fell and he scratched at the back of his head, “Well… In a way. He did suggest that I do something nice for you, but I came up with the breakfast thing all on my own. I know just how much you love my pancakes.” he trailed off again and fell silent. Skye hoped that she hadn’t struck a nerve with him. 

“Hey,” She reached out and placed a gentle hand on his thigh. “It’s alright. It’s still a huge improvement from where you were when we first got here. I don’t expect you to be doing huge things all on your own.” she stated softly. “We both know that you’re not going to be 100% better anytime soon. It’s okay.”

Grant slowly nodded and looked back up to Skye, reaching out to establish contact with Max. He had to do things like this when his issues started acting up so he could try to avoid spiraling into another panic attack. He really didn’t want to have one in front of Skye. Especially now.

He swallowed, “Y-Yeah.” he managed to croak out. “You’re right. Yeah.” There was a faint tremor in his hands, another one of his issues starting to act up. He shakily pointed at the food, “Go on. Tell me if you like it or not. You know, is it good?” His words got jumbled up when he got panicked. 

Skye gave him another comforting smile and went ahead and took a bite of the pancakes and just a little bit of the eggs. Her smile grew and she looked back up to him, “Don’t worry, Grant. It’s amazing. Thank you.”

His panic quickly melted into another huge smile as he took her words in, “Really? So you do like it?” he asked, looking for that reassurance he needed. 

“Grant, your food’s always wonderful. I don’t know why you would think it was horrible. Did you not eat?”

He shook his head, “I wasn’t hungry. And besides, I was too busy cooking for you.”

“Grant, you need to eat.”

“I’ll be fine.”

Skye sighed and took another bite, “Fine. I’m trusting you. As long as you eat lunch later. You can’t neglect your own needs again.” she stated. She reached and took a piece of fruit, “Open.”

Grant blinked in confusion, “Huh?” he asked. 

“Open your mouth.”

He still gave her a confused look, but opened his mouth anyways. Skye took the piece of fruit and popped it into his mouth. He blinked again and ate the fruit. “What was that for?” he asked. 

“I told you that you needed to eat.”

He smiled again and scooted closer to her, leaning his head on her shoulder once he got close enough. Max got up and moved over as well so he could lay his head in Grant’s lap. Grant still tended to get exhausted after doing even the smallest things. So Skye figured that he was going to fall back asleep soon.

Skye finished eating her food so Grant could have just a little bit of silence. After she was done, she placed the tray aside and turned back to him, “Grant, you don’t need to fall asleep like that.” she whispered, reaching out and brushing a lock of hair off of his forehead. “And I need to get up as well.”

“Hmmm?” Grant’s eyes fluttered back open and he sat up. “You done already?”

“It’s been a few minutes. You must’ve drifted back off to sleep.”

“I must have.” he stated sleepily. “Here, I’ll get the dishes and you go get cleaned up or whatnot.”

Skye raised an eyebrow, “You sure you can handle it?” she asked quietly. “It looks like you’re not doing too well right now.”

Grant nodded, “Yeah, I can. It’s just some dishes after all. I should be fine.” he stated firmly. “I can do it.”

“Again,” Skye started to get up. “I’ll trust you on that.”

“Oh, and Skye?”

She blinked and turned around, “Yeah?”

Grant suddenly leaned in and gently kissed her on the cheek. He leaned back and looked at her, a heavy blush starting to appear on his freckled cheeks. He didn’t say anything else.

Skye blinked and was stunned, “You… You actually kissed me.” Well, it was just on her cheek, but it was still a big deal. Even though they both deeply loved one another, Skye had wanted Grant to initiate any romantic actions between them. She wanted him to be comfortable with the idea, so she hadn’t tried anything. But she was still surprised that Grant had done something, Especially this soon. They hadn’t even told one another ‘I love you’ yet.

“Y-Yeah.” Grant stammered, starting to shy away. “W-Was that okay?’

She smiled again, “Yeah, that was perfectly fine.” Blush started to rise on her cheeks as well. “Perfectly fine.”

Grant smiled back and got up, leaving the room with Max. She knew that he wouldn’t say anything else about it and she didn’t expect him to. All he needed to know was that his actions were okay and that she liked it. They would get to  _ other  _ things later on. 

But at least they had finally gotten  _ somewhere. _

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And after 4 months, I finally return with this! There's more than enough written now for two more chapters, I think. I hope you enjoy! Keep the comments and kudos coming!

**Author's Note:**

> These are all based on an AU created by me and a friend on Tumblr! I hope that you all enjoy!


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